SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — A Utah couple turned a heartbreaking experience into a mission — and now they’re rallying everyday people across every industry to fight back against human trafficking.

Krissi and Tommy Green had no roadmap when they were first pulled into the fight. It started when a young girl in Europe reached out for help — and ended up being trafficked.

“I thought we were going to help her while her family was falling apart, and she ended up being trafficked,” Krissi said.

MORE | Pay It Forward

It took a year to get her out. Tommy said she was found with fourteen other teenage girls.

“She told us, ‘You have to keep sharing. There are many more like me,’” Krissi recalled.

That message became the title of Krissi’s book, “Many More Like Me,” and the origin of something much bigger.

“You have to keep sharing. There are many more like me,” Krissi was told. That message became the title of Krissi’s book and the origin of something much bigger. (Photo: KUTV)

The Greens founded Against Trafficking Industries, a nonprofit focused on advocacy, education, prevention, and funding recovery and aftercare for survivors.

“It’s happening in Salt Lake City,” Tommy said. “It’s such a huge problem, so extensive, too big.”

Their approach is different. Rather than asking people to take on the whole problem, they rally everyday people across music, business, and brands to chip in where they can.

“If you give twenty bucks a month and fifteen hundred people are doing that, we can fund these impact projects,” Tommy said.

And for those who feel overwhelmed by the scale of the problem, Krissi has a simple message:

“I can do this. I can be a part of somebody’s solution. I can be part of somebody’s new life and recovery.”

To honor their work, Mountain America Credit Union surprised the Greens with a gift through KUTV’s Pay It Forward program.

To learn more about Against Trafficking Industries, click here.

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Among the creatures benefiting from research funded by the Utah Species Protection Account is the Wilson’s phalarope. The migratory shorebird relies heavily on the shrinking ecosystem of the Great Salt Lake.

Some funds paid for the removal of the threatened Juke sucker from Utah Lake and its tributaries. Rare plant and insect programs at Utah State University also received funding.

The species protection account is administered by the state Division of Wildlife Services. It was established in 1997 toward species and projects that will proactively help to prevent Endangered Species Act listings.

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